Masters of Influence: Mark Harricks

10 July 2015
 

Sponsored: This article is part of a series profiling influential figures in the media and advertising industry in partnership with The Newspaper Works. It first appeared in the May 29 issue of AdNews. Download the page here: Mark Harricks Masters of Influence

For VCCP executive creative director Mark Harricks, influence is more powerful than power.

The vastly decorated creative veteran, chair of the AWARD board and board member on the Communications Council, has long been an influential figure in the Aussie and New Zealand adlands.

“Power is controlling, it’s based on coercion and there’s normally money behind it,” Harricks says.

“Influence is the ability for ideas or arguments to challenge people’s views and mindsets to the point where they inspire a new direction. Nothing is more empowering than that.”

Harricks’ influence has manifested itself in a number of ways throughout his career.

Landmark work for the New Zealand Transport Authority during his seven years as CD of Clemenger BBDO Wellington influenced young drivers to curb their reckless behaviour on the roads and ultimately saved lives.

Harricks was ECD at JWT when the agency produced the seminal "I Touch Myself" campaign for the Cancer Council, which proved highly influential in getting women to check for breast cancer.

This and other memorably effective work from a stellar 16-year-career has had a major influence on juries at all the big global shows, netting Harricks a Titanium and four Gold Lions at Cannes and multiple gongs at D&AD, the One Show, Spikes Asia, Clios and the like. And he continues to have a big influence on the careers of countless creatives as a leader of peak industry bodies.

Harricks is into his third year as chair and seventh on the committee of AWARD and fourth on the CommsCouncil board. He is also a ‘creative mentor’ with Legends & Leaders.

“I get a heap of pleasure out of mentoring people to be the best they can be. If I could just do that for a living I’d be happy.”

He knows firsthand the transformative effect an inspiring mentor can have.

“I think I was a pretty average creative but my boss in NZ, long-time Clems BBDO Wellington ECD Phillip ‘Duster’ Andrew, turned me into someone who could see things differently. He saw something in me and then I started to see it. I’d love to be that person for as many people as possible.”

Harricks would love to see more agencies “run by creatives and not number crunchers”. It’s a large part of why he joined VCCP, an agency famous in the UK for disrupting the established “network way of doing things”.

And he’d love to see more diversity in adland. “More women, more older people, more people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. More risk.”

He values integrity above everything: “I can’t bear politics and petty behaviour getting in the way of great work and undermining things you believe in.

“Bill Bernbach has a saying that I love: ‘A principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money.' “If you really believe in something, there’s got to be a cost and money is a good litmus test.

“There’s been a few things that I’ve really not believed in – and you’ve got to say so, otherwise you’re agreeing with it. “They were really good about it. People normally are when you take a stance.”

Harricks says he has always ensured he has passion projects on the go amid the bread and butter work. There have even been times the passion projects have become staples.

Work for the Cancer Council here and road safety in New Zealand were two such alignments that resulted in brilliant outcomes for everyone.

“I lost my mum to cancer, so working on that account was very personal.

“It’s always gratifying when you get to use your evil powers for good.”

He is convinced the advertising industry – as purveyors of big ideas and masters of channels to mass communicate them – has the “power to change the world for good”.

And despite the proliferation of media channels these days, he believes little trumps good old fashioned word-ofmouth for influence.

“There’s nothing more intimate or compelling.

“Of course the stories people share can come from anywhere. Seeing work talked about in newspapers and on the TV news gives it importance, while social has an incredible immediacy and interactivity,” Harricks says. “Telling great stories with a brilliant idea at their core – that will never change.”

 
Also in the series are John Sintras, Katie Rigg-Smith and Adam Ferrier.

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